BEVERLY HILLS, November 30, (THEWILL) – President Buhari on Monday ordered the military to completely rout out Boko Haram insurgents from all their hideouts in the Northeast. He asked that the battle should be taken to them.
The President gave the order in response to the killing of 43 rice farmers in Borno State at the weekend..
The President’s latest directive was revealed by a Federal Government delegation who visited Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum at the Government House Maiduguri, over the slaughtering of 43 farmers by Boko Haram insurgents in Koshebe, Mafa local government area of troubled Borno State.
A statement by Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, said members of the high level officials were drawn from the Executive and Legislative arms of government.
He stated that the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan spoke for the team and the Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari representing Buhari presented a joint message, on behalf of the President, the government and people of Nigeria.
Shehu said the president’s message was delivered to the state governor, the Shehu of Borno, and the bereaved Zabarmari community, describing the massacre of the farm workers as the worst form of “senseless, barbaric and gruesome murder.”
In the message, Buhari gave strong assurances of his continuous commitment to fighting insurgency and all forms of insecurity in Borno and across the country.
The president committed himself to making more resources available to the military to prosecute the war.
According to him, he will work closely with neighbouring countries on bilateral and multilateral levels to ensure that there is no hiding place for the terrorists.
“Nothing is more important than ensuring the security of lives and property of the people. Everything is secondary when security is at stake.
“As we mourn the loss of our sons in Zabarmari, the Armed Forces have been given the marching order to take the fight to the insurgents, not on a one-off, but on a continuous basis until we root out the terrorists”, he said.
Buhari commended Gov. Babagana Zulum for his leadership in running the affairs of the state.
In his response, Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum said the security situation had evolve from what it was in 2015.
He appealed to the federal government to recruit more youths of the state into the armed forces and other security agents.
He also said the services of security forces from neighbouring countries should be engaged to clear the remnants of the insurgents from the shores of Lake Chad, even as he asked that high calibre equipment should be provided to Nigeria Police.
He equally called on the National Assembly to increase budgetary allocation to the Northeast, he said the N45bn appropriated for capital projects to the Northeast in the 2021 fiscal year was not enough.
Others in the delegation include Chief of Staff to the President, Ministers of Federal Capital Territory, Communications and Digital Economy, Miniaters of State Agriculture and that of Works and Housing.
The delegation while in the state visited the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Garbai Elkanemi. They were also at Zabarmari to condole with families of victims.
